WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.560 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:21.519 Well, good morning, Awakening Church. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:23.280 Great to be with you. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:33.039 My name's Ryan, if we haven't met, thrilled, absolutely thrilled to have you join us on this Daylight Savings Sunday. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:35.840 We've saved daylight. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:37.119 Okay, there we go. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:44.799 I want you to imagine a strange, otherly world with me for a moment. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:49.200 This will sound bizarre, probably to most. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:54.079 Like something out of a dystopian sci-fi novel. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:00.640 Just access that region of the mind, your imagination. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:08.799 Imagine a world where your computer, email, internet access were actually chained to a desk. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:12.480 Either at work or at school. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:14.640 When you left, they stayed. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:17.519 No laptop in your bag, no smartphone in your pocket. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:22.400 When you walked out the door, you were offline completely. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.560 And uh amen went over. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.920 At home, you had four TV channels. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:36.560 Not four streaming platforms, four channels. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:42.799 They aired shows at specific times, and if you missed it, you missed it. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:46.799 And by midnight, the channels just stopped. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:57.040 If you turned it on at TV at 1 a.m., you'd get static white noise, as if the universe is telling you, go to sleep. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:03.280 When you left the house, you carried just your wallet and your keys. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:07.439 Maybe if you're really organized, you had this tiny book for addresses. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.960 But mainly you knew people's phone numbers by heart. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:26.639 And if you were a doctor, I don't know, maybe even potentially a drug dealer, you might have this little box that beeped on your belt when someone needed you to call them back on a landline, this phone that was connected to a wire. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:34.240 Those who visited this world remarked, times seemed to move slower. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:41.439 People were more present, not because they were more spiritual, they just were less distracted. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:46.800 We live in a world obsessed with progress. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:51.199 Newer, faster, smarter, more efficient. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:03:01.039 We've been conditioned to believe that forward motion is always good, speed is always better, and technology will always improve life. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:03.919 What if that's not true? 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:12.080 What if the thing we call progress is actually moving us further away from flourishing? 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:21.360 Neil Postman warned that the biggest threat to humanity wouldn't be oppression but distraction. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:34.800 His premise was: when entertainment becomes the dominant way we experience everything, news, politics, relationships, even spirituality, we'll lose the ability to reflect, think critically, and rest. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:41.199 He wrote, We are people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:49.520 Information comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:56.800 We are glutted with information, drowning in it, with no sense of what's relevant or not. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:07.199 He wrote those words 40 years ago, in the age of the otherworldly world I just was telling you about. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:12.080 In the age of TV, not TikTok. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:18.560 And what he warned us about has become the air that we breathe. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:29.120 We are the most advanced, most connected, most productive generation in human history, and yet we are the most restless, anxious, burned out generation in human history. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.519 Maybe the problem isn't that we need to move faster. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.839 Maybe the problem is we've forgotten how to stop. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:42.879 Speaking of stopping, there's a clicking right behind me. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:47.040 I just need somebody to run up here and stop that real quick. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.160 Seriously, Glenn, run up here real quick. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:51.360 Real quick. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:58.639 The track is on nonstop behind me, and I'm hearing round one, round two, round three. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:04.639 Thank you. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:06.879 I think so. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.120 Someone's ears, I could hear it through. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:12.319 And I'm like, I ain't gonna be able to preach through all this. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:14.639 I was trying my best. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.920 But then my soul's getting anxious as I'm trying to preach unrest. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:23.360 Oh, where were we? 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:30.639 Maybe the problem isn't we need to that we need to move faster. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.879 We've forgotten how to stop. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.319 We've forgotten and lost the rhythm our souls were created for. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.319 So before we dive in into scripture, I want to invite you to pause. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:52.240 Let me ask you to take a deep breath and just do a little personal inventory. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:02.000 Is your life marked more by restfulness or restlessness? 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:07.120 Is it margin or business? 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.879 Is it slowness or hurry? 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.040 Is it quiet or noise? 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:19.680 Deep relationships or isolation? 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:27.040 Time alone or distraction with crowds. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:30.639 Delight or distraction. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:34.000 Enjoyment or envy. 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:38.160 Or confusion. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.319 Gratitude or greed. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.319 Discontentment or contentment. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:49.680 Or worry. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:54.240 Love or anger and anger. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.360 Joy or melancholy and sadness. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.680 Peace or anxiety? 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.680 Working from love or working for love? 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:10.319 Work as contribution? 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.680 Work as accumulation and accomplishment. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:19.279 The question we need to ask. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:26.240 Is the pace of my life forming me into the person I want to become? 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:36.879 Is the pace of your life forming you into the person you want to become? 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.639 Sermon titled Today is The God Who Rest. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:48.720 We're closing out our series on foundations and simply asking, what is the rhythm of the universe? 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:57.360 What if God actually wove throughout the rhythm of the universe something for our very flourishing? 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:03.600 In Genesis chapter 2, we pick up the conclusion of the creation story. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:06.959 If you got your Bibles, I encourage you to open there or you got your notes. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:10.959 Begins this way. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:24.639 All the glory, all the incredible wonder and work that God did for six days of creation. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:29.360 Then verse 2 by the seventh day, God finished the work he had been doing. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.039 So on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:36.559 I want you first to notice God didn't rest because he was tired. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:38.639 He rested because he was done. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:41.919 He accomplished it and he was done. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:46.159 And he finished, and that word rest is the Hebrew word Shabbat. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:48.320 It's where we get our word Sabbath. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:49.759 He Sabbath. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:54.320 Verse 3, then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.200 The first thing we see God bless is humanity. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:58.399 God blessed humanity. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.919 The second thing we see God bless is a day. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:05.840 A part of the fabric of creation. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.000 He blesses a day, and then he does this. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:13.200 This is the first thing in Scripture that God makes holy. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.600 Not a temple, not a place. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:20.480 Holy means to be set apart completely other for a distinct purpose. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:22.960 All unto itself. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:24.639 It's holy. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:29.200 And God says, this day is holy. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:40.000 God blessed it and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he has done. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:50.240 Now I want to give you just an overview of where we've been for the last six weeks so that you can get a picture of what God's creative work has been doing. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.559 In your notes, you have a chart and it begins Genesis 1.1. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:11.519 In the beginning, God, we began the entire series, that uh all of creation, the universe, it's centered on God, that He is the architect and designer, which is incredibly good news that you have purpose, intention, design, and meaning. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:15.600 You're not a cosmic accident, that God created the heavens and the earth. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.679 And then verse two says, now the earth was formless and empty. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:28.240 Those two words actually are the outline for the creation narrative: formless and empty, or wild and waste. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:32.799 And what you'll notice is God's creative work from day one through day six. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:35.919 He's forming and he's filling. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:40.720 Days one through uh two, uh three, God forms and brings order. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:44.639 Day one, he forms, he brings light separates from darkness. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.039 Day two, sky separates from water. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.440 Day three, land separates from sea. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.320 God brings structure to the formless. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:57.679 And then days four through six, God fills, he takes that order and structure. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:00.480 Now he then fills it and brings purpose. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:12.399 Day four, he fills the heavens with the sun, moon, and stars, fills the sea, day five with the fish and the birds of the air, day six, fills the land, animals and humans. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:16.720 God brings abundance where there once was emptiness. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:26.320 And then we're invited in as co-creators with God to bring structure and order and abundance and to cultivate. 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:32.720 We're to be working alongside and doing the very same things in God's good creation. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:40.399 And then Genesis 2, day seven, which often we think about like, well, he didn't create anything. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:42.080 No, he did. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:50.320 He created a rhythm of the universe upon which we are designed to flourish. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.080 He created rest. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:12:00.639 Then God blessed it, declared it holy, because on it he rested from all his work. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:02.720 What is the rhythm of the universe? 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:10.879 From the very first pages of scripture, God built a rhythm into the very fabric of creation: work and rest. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:19.360 Create and stop, produce and delight. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.440 This is the rhythm of the universe. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:28.480 Within the rhythm of the universe, I want to draw your attention just to three things. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:34.720 Within the rhythm of the universe, your body, mind, and soul need daily rest. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:40.559 Within the very fabric of the way God designed things, you need daily rest. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.559 Genesis 1, 5 says, and there was evening and there was morning. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:45.679 Say evening and morning. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.559 And there was evening and morning. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:50.000 Okay, notice this. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:50.879 We missed this. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.080 God designed the day to begin with rest, not work. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:00.240 And the Hebrew understanding of the day, the day began at sundown, not sun up. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:06.960 And so when you finished your work and the sun went down, it was a new day began. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:12.320 And so I finished my work and a new day as dusk came. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:14.799 What did you do in your new day? 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:25.440 Well, you had a great meal with family, shared around a table, had conversations, told stories, because that was your entertainment. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:29.279 Camping for most of us. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:31.519 And then you slept. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.600 That's how the day began. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:39.120 With rest, not work. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:55.360 In fact, for most of human history, that's how days have worked until the invention of electricity, where then we begin to violate the very rhythm of the universe, where we can have artificial light that allows us to work well beyond our days. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:03.519 And then the industrial age came along and said, wow, you're really valuable in what you produce. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:09.919 And we can produce things not just during the day, but we can produce them all throughout the night. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:23.919 And we've gotten caught up into a cycle of always producing a rhythm, not in rhythm with creation, but in a rhythm of production. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:37.919 God designed the day to begin with rest and not begin with work. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:42.720 And so, if you work with your hands, how do we rest? 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:50.159 If you work with your hands, which some of you do, you generally tend to rest with your mind. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:57.039 You exert throughout the day and you're doing uh some job with your hands, whatever that might be. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:04.960 Maybe you are in the landscaping business, maybe you're a barista, you're working with your hands, you're like, I don't want to go do another thing. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:11.200 I just need to rest, and maybe you rest with your mind, whether it's reading, uh, maybe it's a good conversation. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.000 If you work with your mind, you generally tend to rest with your hands. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:23.840 We have a lot of thought uh workers in here today, and you spend your day behind a computer doing this all day long. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:28.080 You generally begin to rest with your hands. 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:30.000 For me, I actually love to cook. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.519 I do a lot of the cooking in our home, not because I have to, I enjoy it. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:34.879 I get home after a stressful day. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:38.639 Actually, something is amazing, just doing something with my hands. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:40.080 Some of you love to garden. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:42.080 What does it look like to daily rest? 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:49.279 Maybe it's reading a book, maybe it's playing a game, enjoying a meal, gardening, getting a workout. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:55.519 By the way, scrolling is not resting, it's numbing. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.200 Say that again, scrolling, because this is what we do. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:06.000 We numb out instead of actually do the things that nourish our soul. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:11.679 Your body, mind, soul was made. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.440 You need, you're not a machine for daily rest. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:20.559 And yet what we do is we gravitate to that's what's easy, that which is mindless. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.759 In fact, you know what the word amusement means? 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:26.000 Ah means no. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:27.679 Muse, think. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.399 To be amused is to be without thought. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:34.960 That's why Neil Postman talked about amusing ourselves to death. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:38.639 That we become a generation without thinking. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:43.360 Because we just pick up what's easy and it becomes addictive. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:47.200 Your body, mind, and soul, you need daily rest. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:50.240 Secondly, you are created for meaningful work. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:52.399 God blessed them. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:53.840 What did he bless them with? 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.799 To be fruitful and to rule. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.559 God created humanity to work with him. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:04.799 Work is not, as some think, a necessary evil. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:11.519 There was work in the garden before there was sin in the garden. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:15.359 Work also isn't everything. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:18.160 It's interesting. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:24.240 People without meaningful work or purpose tend to die younger than those with it. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:32.640 Now, here's what's amazing is I think when we look at meaningful work, you're like, what is that? 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:34.799 How do I get that? 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.720 In fact, would you just kind of shout out to me some jobs? 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.319 Tell me, just help me real quick. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:41.440 Shout out some jobs. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:42.880 Coach, what else? 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:44.720 Teacher, yeah. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:45.759 Firefighter. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:46.880 I saw a firefighter. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:47.759 What else? 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:49.279 Huh? 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:51.519 Nanny? 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:52.880 Nurse? 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:55.279 Engineer, yeah, we have lots of those. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:57.279 Contractor. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:58.400 Social media. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:59.680 Social media. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:00.880 I don't know what that means. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:02.720 Influencer, there we go. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:06.640 Politician. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:09.119 Behavior technician. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.480 And you know what we do? 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.400 Even as you're yelling those out, we naturally assign value to them. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:19.279 Some are more meaningful than others. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:37.519 And some of you are not in your career, you're doing a job, you're just figuring out life right now, and maybe you're doing uh some job that you're like, this isn't where I want to be, or maybe you're in a place where you don't have a boss that you really love to be around, or there's another career step, and you feel like your life is on pause and you're waiting. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.400 I want to tell you something that's incredible. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:46.319 Wherever you're at, and whatever you're doing, as long as it's honest work, it can be meaningful work. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:55.680 Colossians 3 23 says, Whatever you do, whatever you do, you hear that? 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.279 Whatever you do, I don't know what you're doing, what job you're doing. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.599 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:06.559 As if working unto Christ. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:18.720 Like whatever I'm doing, I can bring meaning and purpose, not because I have a great boss, not because I have somebody in my life where I even feel like this job is making that much big of a difference. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:27.279 I am working as unto Christ, and so my whole heart, God, I I long for you to be honored with this spreadsheet that I produced. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:29.680 You know what? 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:31.279 Today's daylight savings. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:37.039 Tomorrow I'm a teacher and I'm gonna show up to cranky kids, and it's gonna just feel terrible. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:43.839 And yet I'm gonna work at it with all my heart, not because the kids are really wonderful, but because, Jesus, you are amazing. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:55.359 Everything you do can be meaningful work when we work at it with all our heart. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:59.200 You, your body, mind, and soul needs daily rest. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:09.839 You're created for meaningful work within the rhythm, the fabric of the universe that God has designed, your body, mind, and soul need weekly renewal. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.240 I think we can understand the daily rest portion. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:19.519 All the studies on sleep, we're like, okay, yeah, I'm gonna like track my sleep. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.000 I gotta make sure I get rest, I get that. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.319 This is the part Silicon Valley we we struggle with, don't we? 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:28.559 Weekly renewal? 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.720 I don't know about that. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:36.240 Then God blessed them the seventh day, made it holy. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:42.480 God set boundaries to work for your good. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.440 He set a boundary line. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:21:02.079 AJ Swaboda in his book Subversive Sabbath wrote this: The Sabbath has largely been forgotten by the church, which has uncritically mimicked the rhythms of the industrial and success-obsessed West. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:10.160 The result, our road-weary, exhausted churches have largely failed to integrate Sabbath into their lives as vital elements of Christian discipleship. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:12.720 It's not as though we do not love God. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:14.319 We love God deeply. 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.440 We just don't know how to sit with God anymore. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:27.039 We have become perhaps the most emotionally exhausted, psychologically overworked, spiritually malnourished people in history. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:38.000 Your body, your mind, and your soul needs weekly renewal. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:40.480 A Sabbath. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:42.559 What is a Sabbath? 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:55.039 Pete Sagazero writes Biblical Sabbath is a twenty-four hour block of time in which you stop work, enjoy rest, practice delight, and contemplate God. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:56.400 That Sabbath. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.559 All the studies show us after 50 hours of work, your productivity plummets. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:15.200 This, you know, busyness as a badge of honor, this 80-hour work week, we think we're doing something and actually we're being counterproductive. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:20.160 Enjoy rest, practice delight, and contemplate God. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:23.920 Sabbath is not just a day off, it's actually an act of faith. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:28.400 Did you know that Sabbath keeping is one of the Ten Commandments? 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:33.119 Exodus 20, verse 8, remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:34.400 Six days you shall labor. 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:36.640 There's a boundary line here. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.720 On the seventh day, Sabbath to the Lord. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:55.759 All the other nations, they operated by the moon festivals and the worshiping like all the different um planets and moon and deities, and they didn't stop for any reason. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:59.119 This was completely disconnected from all of that. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:06.319 Said you're gonna work six days, and then seventh day you're not, and it's gonna look different than everybody else. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:08.960 People are gonna go, why ain't you working? 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:11.279 Because God. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:43.839 Sabbath is this declaration that you are not a machine, you're an image bearer. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:52.799 Sabbath is this act of faith that God is at work when you're not working. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:58.319 You know, it's interesting, he made the universe, holds all things together. 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.440 I think he can take care of some of the stuff in your life. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:07.920 Sabbath is this declaration that your worth is not tied to your work. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:15.200 You are far more, your work is meaningful, and you're far more than your work. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.799 And it's this declaration of presence. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.440 Matters more than productivity. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:26.079 That's what your heart longs for, by the way. 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.880 We get into this production cycle. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:32.799 I am what I produce. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:36.000 And yet, what our hearts long for is just presence. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:41.359 First and foremost with God and then with one another. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:51.200 It's not just a day off, it's an act of faith, and it's more than just rest, it's actually resistance. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:58.720 Um, Exodus, the Ten Commandments, is the first law that Moses gives to the people of Israel. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:01.920 Then there's this book uh at the called Deuteronomy. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:03.519 Duet means two, right? 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:04.640 You sing a duet? 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:06.880 Onami means law, second law. 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:07.759 It's the second law. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:18.079 And what the reason they give it a second time is Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness, a generation died off, a new generation is about to enter the promised land. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:27.359 And when Moses begins to give the second law, it's interesting how he reminds the people of Israel to Sabbath and why it matters. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:28.319 Notice what he says. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:37.440 He says, Remember, when you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.079 Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:47.680 In Deuteronomy, the Sabbath command is tied not to creation, but to liberation. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:26:04.240 Remember, when you were slaves in Egypt, when you had a taskmaster, there were no days off, and you were what you produced. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.359 Remember, you do not have a God like that. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:17.839 Your God is not demanding of you, he's actually inviting you to delight. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.519 Tim Keller writes this about Sabbath. 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:28.880 He says, Anyone who cannot obey God's command to observe the Sabbath is a slave, even a self-imposed one. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:40.319 Your own heart or a materialistic culture or an exploitive organization or all of the above will be abusing you if you don't have the ability to be disciplined in your practice of Sabbath. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:44.720 Sabbath is therefore a decoration of our freedom. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:51.759 Sabbath is how we break free from the tyranny of never enough. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:55.519 Isn't that what we feel we live under? 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:56.799 Never enough. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.839 And there's never enough time either, right? 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:04.240 To do all the things and all the demands and all the stuff. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:07.839 Sabbath is a day to say, God is enough. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:13.359 God, you're actually more than enough for me. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.799 And so as a result, I have enough. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:23.279 Like, God, if you are enough, if you are all that I need, then I actually have enough. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:28.799 And so the endless striving to not just be enough, but to get enough, I have enough. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:33.279 And as a result, there's a day just to say, I've done enough. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:37.119 I can't do it all. 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:40.480 I can't do everything. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:49.519 In the rhythm of creation, pre-electricity. 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:54.799 There just was time when the sun went down and there was no more you could do. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:02.160 So, well, I guess that was enough for today. 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:04.880 We'll pick it up tomorrow. 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:08.400 Wouldn't it be amazing if you were able to have that? 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:14.640 See, we live with this constant ding and pressure and access that says more, more, more, you can access it. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:15.440 You gotta do it. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:16.319 Uh, you know what? 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:24.319 Hey, do you remember when emails uh it used to be for some, like a response was within 48 hours or so? 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:26.720 And then it used to be 24 hours? 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:28.559 Now it's instant, right? 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:33.279 Somebody texts or emails you and then they walk down and say, Hey, did you get my text? 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:34.079 Did you get my email? 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:35.440 Did you get my Slack? 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:36.400 Oh no. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:38.960 Wait, you sent that two minutes ago. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:43.599 Sabbath is a day I've done enough. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:48.079 And to realize in Christ I am enough. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:29:02.799 It's a day of resistance against the tyranny of our world, of production, and declaring that my worth is not in what I do, but in whose name I carry. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:09.200 And my heavenly Father, he rested, and so will I. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:12.480 So, what does that look like in the Silicon Valley? 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:15.759 How do we embrace Sabbath in Silicon Valley? 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:18.559 Because you're like, Ryan, this seems impossible. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:22.720 This is hustle culture. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:29.440 This is, you know, if you're working in one of the big four accounting, you're talking about Sabbath. 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:32.240 Do you know what time of the year it is right now, Ryan? 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:38.079 If you're working in the startup world, they own your soul. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:49.039 They have the, you know, silver or golden handcuff that like they might go public, you might make it, you might become wealthy, and then you can Sabbath forever. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:55.440 Embracing Sabbath and Sisilican Valley, first thing I want you to do is start small but start now. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:57.680 Start small but start now. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:01.680 Twour hours might feel like too much to you. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:02.559 Fine. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:04.559 Do four. 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:06.720 Do four. 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:08.000 Do six. 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:09.839 Do a half day. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:12.240 Start small. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.200 Set it aside on your calendar. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:16.480 Block it out. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:27.039 In fact, if you have a play, uh if you have a hard time when people email you that you need to get right back to them, whatever that time period is, set an out-in-office email. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:29.440 A busy. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:33.279 Hey, I'll get back to you at this time. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:35.440 Then they've already been responded to. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:39.200 We leverage technology to your strength. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:41.759 But start small, but start now. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:43.039 What do you do on a Sabbath? 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:44.160 Three things. 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:44.799 Remember? 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:46.160 Stop. 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:47.440 Rest. 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:48.720 Delight. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:49.759 Worship. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:51.039 Stop the work. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:51.759 Rest. 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:53.359 What does my soul need? 00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:54.480 Delight? 00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:56.160 Worship. 00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:58.559 Let me ask you, what do you need to stop? 00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:04.480 Can I invite all of us? 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:08.000 One of the things we need to stop is we probably need a digital Sabbath. 00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:13.119 Your soul, my goodness, try it. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:13.920 It's Lent. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:15.359 You might as well try it for a day. 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:18.000 I'm not saying for 40 days, just try it for a day a week. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:19.759 Do a digital Sabbath. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:28.000 You Sabbath emails, Slack responses, social media. 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:30.880 Just try it for four hours. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:36.880 What if you actually had dinner with friends with no technology? 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:45.440 Or you, you know, began the day with no technology. 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:46.400 Stop. 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:47.440 And then rest. 00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:48.720 Let me ask you. 00:31:50.079 --> 00:31:52.480 What is restful and renewing to you? 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.039 Did you know that's a spiritual question? 00:31:56.559 --> 00:31:58.000 Maybe it's a good meal? 00:31:58.480 --> 00:31:59.440 Spa day? 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:01.200 Getting your nails done? 00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:03.519 A conversation with a good friend? 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:04.880 Hiking? 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:08.400 Maybe it's taking a nap? 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:09.839 Gardening? 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:10.640 Painting? 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:11.440 Walking? 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:12.720 Solitude? 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:14.480 Listening to music? 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:16.480 Nature? 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:20.559 What is restful? 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:23.839 And what brings you delight? 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:31.359 We have this picture of God, don't we, that He's demanding of us. 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:34.319 But what if that voice isn't God's? 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:41.440 He's the one who wove into the fabric of the universe a day just to delight and stop. 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:45.680 Friday is my day off. 00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:46.960 It's my Saturday. 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:49.839 I get to have the day off and I love it. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:52.880 So I work Sunday through Thursday and I do a little bit on Saturday. 00:32:52.960 --> 00:33:01.359 But the reason I love Friday is I can put the sermon down and I don't have to think about it at all because I know Saturday I can pick it back up before this moment here. 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:07.440 We've not always been the good at Sabbathing, and we don't really call it that in our family. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:08.720 But it's a day off. 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:10.799 It's stop, rest, delight, and worship. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:14.559 Here was my Friday day, my Saturday. 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.119 Woke up, spent time with God. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:26.000 The way I do it, it was just, I love my mornings, coffee, although that morning, anyways, you don't need to know all those details. 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:30.400 And then I worked out with my buddy. 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:43.039 Jenny and I had breakfast, made a little breakfast, sat on the back deck, talked, uh, or patio talked about uh our day, our future, kids, all those sort of things. 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:45.759 Sun was shining, wasn't that nice? 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:48.720 And then I started a thing with my brother. 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:51.359 As our kids had gotten older, we were able to do some different things. 00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:52.559 We played golf. 00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:54.240 When a kid's younger, we couldn't do that. 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:55.759 But now we have went and played golf. 00:33:55.920 --> 00:34:02.640 Then my daughter's home for you know spring break, and so we picked her up from friends who were dropping her off, and then we ate sushi. 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:10.239 I grew up with this mentality, by the way, uh, I was told you can have too much fun in one day. 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:15.199 And at some point we'd have a lot of fun and said, Well, I think we've had too much fun in one day. 00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:16.480 And we stop. 00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:19.679 I don't know where that came from. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:24.639 You cannot have too much fun on Sabbath. 00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:31.440 And then I fell asleep early watching the show with the family, as I often do. 00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:39.039 Dan Allador on the Sabbath writes this The Sabbath is an invitation to enter the light. 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:43.519 The Sabbath, when experiences God intended, is the best day of our lives. 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:47.199 Without question or thought, is the best day of the week. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:52.719 Is it the day we anticipate on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and the day we remember on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. 00:34:52.880 --> 00:35:03.679 Sabbath is the holy time where we feast, play, dance, have sex, sing, pray, laugh, tell stories, read, paint, walk, and watch creation in its fullness. 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:14.079 Few people are willing to enter the Sabbath and sanctify it to make it holy because a full day of delight and joy is more than most people can bear in a lifetime, let alone a week. 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:17.280 Start small, but start now. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:21.360 Stop, rest, delight, worship. 00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:24.559 Stay consistent and be creative. 00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:26.559 Stay consistent. 00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:29.599 But my schedule's inconsistent. 00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:32.239 You know, my friend who's a firefighter over here. 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:34.000 His days off are different. 00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:37.920 You might have to rotate your Sabbath each week because of your days off. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:39.199 That's fine. 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:41.360 But stay consistent. 00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:44.480 Mark it on your calendar, block it off. 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:49.039 And then when people ask, tell them, you have a meeting. 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:51.679 I have a really important meeting. 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:52.719 It's true. 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:54.239 It's just with God. 00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:57.119 Stay consistent, be creative. 00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:01.119 And then finally, new seasons often require new rhythms. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:07.119 We often get into a rut when we try to bring our old rhythms into new seasons. 00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:12.719 When you're single, Sabbath can look in certain ways to then when you're dating or when you're married. 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:20.079 A new season of your new parents, your new mom and dad, Sabbath doesn't look like a day full of rest, does it? 00:36:20.719 --> 00:36:25.519 You might go, okay, I'm gonna get like three hours here, and then you get three hours here. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:30.960 But you begin to figure out what is the rhythm that works in the season that we're in. 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:34.239 The rhythm of the universe. 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:36.719 Your body and mind and soul need daily rest. 00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:38.719 You're created from meaningful work. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:43.119 Your body, mind, and soul need weekly renewal. 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:46.559 Imagine if we were this type of people. 00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:59.039 It's what one person would say, I believe we would become a non-anxious presence in the world around us that would invite people to the very throne of God, wondering what is different. 00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:08.320 As we close today, I want to invite you into a sacred moment, one that's been part of the rhythm of the church for over 2,000 years. 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:14.639 A moment that calls us to stop, to remember and realign our lives with the one who created us. 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:22.719 The story of creation ends with God resting, not because he was tired, but because he finished. 00:37:23.039 --> 00:37:26.239 He looked at all he did had made and called it good. 00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:36.719 Fast forward to the cross, and we find Jesus, the Son of God, hanging there, his body broken, his blood poured out, and in his final breath he declared, it is finished. 00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:39.199 Salvation complete. 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:41.679 And communion. 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:47.679 This moment is an act of stopping, an act of trust. 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:51.519 A moment where we say, Jesus, you are enough. 00:37:52.159 --> 00:37:54.159 In you I have enough. 00:37:54.719 --> 00:38:03.519 I don't have to strive because you have accomplished and declared it finished. 00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:07.360 So right now I just want to invite you to slow down. 00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:11.679 Step into the rhythm of grace. 00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:21.599 A moment to receive, not achieve what Christ has accomplished for you. 00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:27.679 As you take the bread, remember his body broken for you so that you could be made whole. 00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:33.760 As you drink the cup, remember his blood poured out so that you could be free. 00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:54.719 And so Jesus, we confess we live in a world of endless striving, hurried schedules, and even now, in this moment, reality is a lot of us have restless hearts. 00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:03.360 And so in this moment, in you may we find our rest. 00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:21.119 So today we stop to remember your work on the cross. 00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:24.880 Would you quiet our souls? 00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:29.119 Remind us we're not machines, we're image bears. 00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:38.960 Our worth is not tied to our work, but your finished work on the cross. 00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:43.840 And you invite us to delight. 00:39:45.039 --> 00:39:46.320 Meet us now. 00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:53.760 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:39:53.920 --> 00:39:58.320 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:00.639 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:06.719 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.